The present disclosure relates to stiff sheet materials usable to reduce the weight of stamped metal components, and particularly to a metal laminate sheet material.
The need for lightweight materials is widespread across many industries. In the automotive and aerospace industries, lightweight materials are desired for improved fuel economy. In consumer recreational equipment, lightweight sheet material is desired for enhanced performance. In consumer electronics and mobile devices, using lightweight sheet material for device housings and other components enhances portability and provides a lighter device. More generally, manufacturers in such industries make efforts to reduce the weight and thickness of components, while still selecting materials with high specific strength and specific stiffness values and/or with other desired properties.
The use of composite materials continues to expand as a pathway toward lightweight materials. These may include carbon or glass fiber composites, metal matrix composites, honeycomb core materials or various other common configurations. However, composite material solutions typically have a high cost of manufacturing. For carbon fiber, this includes the cost of the lay-up and impregnation of the matrix material. Manufacture of metal matrix composites typically require powder metal processing in relatively small batches. The high cost of manufacturing of these composite materials is an impediment to their large scale adoption.
Further, conventional, low cost, metal forming processes such as stamping and forming from a metal coil, which are used for many high volume components, are sometimes incompatible with composite materials.
Thus, there is an ongoing need to provide light, stiff, easily formed sheet materials for use in applications calling for lightweight but stiff sheet materials, and/or which are compatible with existing metalworking infrastructure for stamping and forming of metal components.